50,167

50,167 words. Needless to say, it's been a busy month. Lots of very early mornings so that I could get in my writing time. And I still had to play catchup and write for about fifteen hours yesterday---not an exaggeration! But what a great feeling to FINALLY finish, on my seventh attempt. :-)

Even more exciting, though, is how much I learned about writing in just thirty days. And how much less afraid I now am to work out my ideas and make them come alive. I think the most thrilling experience was feeling, as I approached the 40,000-word mark, the blood start the pump through the veins of what had started as very two-dimensional, cardboard cutout characters. I can't wait to start on my revisions. Really. :-D

Also, a big thank you to all the readers who've stopped by from NaBloPoMo this month. It was great to see new people visit and commenting. We'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.

Congrats to all the NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo winners!

what i'm thankful for #7

Every new morning, ripe with possibility, promise, and hope.

what i'm thankful for #6

A house full of happy (and supercute) fur bundles. :-)

what i'm thankful for #5

The wonders of nature. I was about to pick off what I thought was a twig from my husband's sweatshirt before this little guy reared up and let his true identity be known. (He was returned to the outdoors safely, btw.)

what i'm thankful for #4

A Happy Thanksgiving feast surrounded by loved ones!

what i'm thankful for #3

My hot water bottle, which helps take the chill out of the coldest nights of winter.

what i'm thankful for #2

Yoga (and my collection of yoga DVDs). Because no matter how chaotic and out of control my life and the world become, I know that when I roll out my trusted mat, all will be well.




Photo from the yoga journal.

what i'm thankful for #1

Clementine season!

foto spot #18

From a Sunday afternoon drive earlier this year.
Hope you're all enjoying what's left of your weekend! :-)

planning the feast

Soon after I gave up eating meat, the family was visiting my brother on Cape Cod. After lunch one day, we went for a stroll and came across an independently owned bookstore, so of course I had to go inside and have poke around.

There I found exactly the sort of book I had been looking for, and not surprisingly it was written by the folks at the Moosewood Collective. Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates is a collection of holiday recipes, organized by season, featuring all the well-known favorites, as well as some fun extras like Diwali, Cinco de Mayo, and Setsubun (Japanese Bean Day). A section is included on foods to make and gift, like pear-raspberry preserves and our dogs' favorite homemade dog biscuits.

For Thanksgiving, both a vegetarian and vegan menu are provided. At our home, we roast turkey legs for our meat eaters, who then enjoy our dishes as their sides: polenta, sauteed greens, cranberry sauce, potato filling, and veggie au gratin, like the one picture above. Not to mention freshly baked rolls and pumpkin pie. Yum, I am getting hungry already and still five days to wait until the big day. :-)

If you're stuck on ideas for your family's (non)turkey dinner and don't have the time/money/space for yet another cookbook (which I totally understand), here is another menu I found on the Food Network's web site. Lots of tasty-looking suggestions there, too, yum.

Finally, when you are doing your holiday food shopping, do try to pick up a few extra cans---whatever your budget allows---and swing by your local food pantry on the way home. Not surprisingly, with so many people still out of work, more are relying on food banks to feed their families, and donations are MUCH appreciated. In the spirit of the holiday, it's the least we can do.

home for the holidays

From now until (at least) the New Year, I'm going to post more features on charitable organizations whose good work could use our help. Yes, even our sad, laid-off, and unemployed help.

Today I ask you check out Let's Bring 'Em Home's web site. This nonpartisan nonprofit raises money to pay for US soldiers' plane fares, allowing many American families to spend their holidays together who otherwise might have not been able to. Last year $63,000 was raised and paid for 72 flights home. I know money is tight this year, but do consider donating whatever you can---every dollar counts!

Have a GREAT weekend, everyone!

the right to hang

I know I try to keep a happy vibe on this site, but this article today made me angry, not to mention seriously wonder about people's priorities.

We have not had a clothes dryer for eight years. In sunny weather, we hang our laundry outside among the posies (as you can see). In the winter and rainy weather, we use the three retractable lines we installed in our washroom. I don't miss having a dryer at all.

There also is the cost savings. The woman in the article says her family of five saves $83 a month by hanging their laundry outside. Not to mention the reduction of carbon emissions.

Our neighbors all hang their laundry as well. Nobody cares about the others' "unmentionables" on the line. We chat in the mornings while we put up the clothes. Laundry lines shouldn't be dividing communities; they should be bringing them together. When I grew up (not that long ago), there was a clothesline in every backyard. So how did this practical and eco-friendly bit of homecaring suddenly become "trailer trash"? As my wise grandmother would have said, "It boggles the mind."

P.S. Another laundry tip: use white vinegar in place of fabric softener, about 1/3 cup for an average load. Don't worry, your clothes will NOT smell of vinegar afterward. :-)

holiday freebies

Busy, busy here now that my work computer has been rebuilt and I am playing catchup on more deadlines than I care to think about. But at least there is crafty stuff to help me unwind in the evenings.

Speaking of, 30+ FREE holiday patterns here at Lions Brand, sure to keep your sticks busy from now until the holidays. :-)

foto spot #17

Monet's "Water Lilies", Paris.

happy days

When I was a kid, 8 pm on Tuesdays meant one thing---Happy Days (followed by Laverne & Shirley at 8:30, of course. And then bedtime). To start this week, here are 10 ways to have your own happy days, courtesy of Richie and Joanie's TV mom, Marion Ross (and have you seen her lately? She looks FABULOUS!).

*Clear your clutter: every morning take out the garbage and gather up old newspapers.

*Send a letter to a friend---a REAL letter, not e-mail.

*Make time for a 40-minute walk (This I will vouch for: on the days I make time for exercise I always have more energy and am better able to handle problems that pop up later in the day.)

*Spend sometime in the garden. (Or at the very least outdoors.)

*Give your pet some "sugar". (Absolutely!)

*Learn something new.

*Eat right. (PLEASE, it's the best thing you can do for yourself!)

*Buy new underwear.

*Escape, just for a little while. (Just a few hours in the city does the job for me :-)

*Fix what's broken.

Happy Monday!!!

floss? you will now.

Need yet another good reason to floss your teeth regularly---how about adding 6.4 years onto your life? I think I may have FINALLY convinced my husband of its merits after years of defending my dental hygiene regimen (I've also only ever had one cavity in my 40+ years, btw).

Flossing was just one item in a recently published study of easy things we can do to stick around a bit longer on this great planet. Here is a sample of some of the others:

*Get a hobby + 2 years
*Take vacations + 1-2 years
*Sleep in + 2 years
*Lose the flab + 3-4 years

For the complete list and more details from the study, see here.

for the birds

Although I am not a fan of the plastic bottle, I do like whenever a creative idea emerges to give trash a new purpose in life. Like this handy gadget that allows you to turn a soda bottle into a bird feeder. Highlighted recently on one of my favorite web sites, unclutterer.com, the soda bottle bird feeder is currently on sale at amazon.com for $9.95. Check it out, before the first snow fall.

tgif fun

Looking forward to this weekend even more than most. I think it was my work PC having a stroke Wednesday morning, resulting in my technonerd/husband having to spend the next sixteen hours rebuilding my computer so that I could make a deadline yesterday, that zapped all of my extra reserves. Tomorrow night's curry fest with friends cannot arrive fast enough. :-) For now, though, I am calling it an early night and so leave you with a comic that made me smile today (enjoy more of the strip here). Have a GREAT weekend, everyone!

now that's hot!

remember to say thank you

Today is the day set aside to honor and thank our veterans, although we should probably do so every day, as well as thank their families, who share in their loved one's commitment to service. From The Happy Recessionist and her family, THANK YOU!!!

Here are also two links for more information about veterans' services: US Department of Veterans Affairs and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA). Tons of good information at both, and IAVA also has suggestions in case you are looking for ways to commemorate this important holiday. Veterans, again thank you for your service!

foto spot #16

Pretty glow from our solar-powered lantern, makes a perfect nightlight.

9 out of 10 doctors say...

"Crisco, IT'S DIGESTIBLE!" I love this ad; it makes me laugh every time. For the past few years, I have been collecting cookbooks and women's magazines from the first half of the twentieth century because I think there is more interesting history in their pages than in my dusty college textbooks. I love to see what people wore, what they made for dinner (LOTS of meat parts that most Americans today would say: "IT'S NOT DIGESTIBLE!"), how they spent their free time.

I also find it fascinating that no matter how much the world has outwardly changed, so many questions we have today were asked more than sixty years ago: are vaccinations safe; in which states is divorce more prevalent; do doctors perform unnecessary surgeries; how can working women juggle their many demands? Which makes one wonder whether we have resolved any issues in all these years!

That said, I am thinking about Cranberry Pie! now for Thanksgiving this year. Nine out of 10 doctors can't be wrong, can they? ;-)

sunday scramble

Sunday brunch may be my favorite of all meals. Correction, it IS my favorite of all meals. I like the luxury of time I have to prepare---and enjoy eating!---the meal without having to worry about the rush to clean up and get back to work like during the rest of our week.

Today I made one of my no-fuss standards: the scramble. Here's the ingredient list, but first, don't be put off by the tofu. My husband, a confirmed carnivore and previous tofu skeptic, even gives my scramble his endorsement.

Olive oil
Chopped onion
Chopped red and green pepper
Fine herb (or other seasoned) tofu, cubed
Egg, 1 per person
Smoked salmon
Tabasco sauce

Saute the onion, pepper, and tofu until the vegetables are soft and the tofu lightly browned. I use a 1.5 x 2.5 x 3/4-inch piece of tofu per person roughly. Pour the egg over the top and sprinkle with short strips of salmon. I use a small slice of salmon per person, so that the flavor isn't overpowering. Stir continuously until the egg is set. A few quick shots of Tabasco is the only seasoning required. Serve with a couple slices of crunchy toast and the Sunday paper. Enjoy!

more thoughts on autumn

Harvest
by Louise Glück

It's autumn in the market—
not wise anymore to buy tomatoes.
They're beautiful still on the outside,
some perfectly round and red, the rare varieties
misshapen, individual, like human brains covered in red oilcloth—

Inside, they're gone. Black, moldy—
you can't take a bite without anxiety.
Here and there, among the tainted ones, a fruit
still perfect, picked before decay set in.

Instead of tomatoes, crops nobody really wants.
Pumpkins, a lot of pumpkins.
Gourds, ropes of dried chilies, braids of garlic.
The artisans weave dead flowers into wreaths;
they tie bits of colored yarn around dried lavender.
And people go on for a while buying these things
as though they thought the farmers would see to it
that things went back to normal:
the vines would go back to bearing new peas;
the first small lettuces, so fragile, so delicate, would begin
to poke out of the dirt.

Instead, it gets dark early.
And the rains get heavier; they carry
the weight of dead leaves.

At dusk, now, an atmosphere of threat, of foreboding.
And people feel this themselves; they give a name to the season,
harvest, to put a better face on these things.

The gourds are rotting on the ground, the sweet blue grapes are finished.
A few roots, maybe, but the ground's so hard the farmers think
it isn't worth the effort to dig them out. For what?
To stand in the marketplace under a thin umbrella, in the rain, in the cold,
no customers anymore?

And then the frost comes; there's no more question of harvest.
The snow begins; the pretense of life ends.
The earth is white now; the fields shine when the moon rises.

I sit at the bedroom window, watching the snow fall.
The earth is like a mirror:
calm meeting calm, detachment meeting detachment.

What lives, lives underground.
What dies, dies without struggle.

Painting is Women Haymaking by Camille Pissarro.
NaNoWriMo current total: 9,479/50,000 words.

friday confessional

I am a grammar geek, and I make no apologies for it. I have been known to e-mail web sites (msnbc.com I'm talking about you) almost daily when I find typos in their articles and headlines. I know my grandmother, a teacher for almost forty years, would be proud. And so for today a fun little video that speaks to my heart and soul. Billy Collins, one of my favorite poets, cracking up on stage also makes me laugh. To all my fellow wordsmiths, enjoy!

keeping warm without breaking the bank

The wind howling outside lets me know that the cold will soon descend upon us. I must admit, we enjoyed an extended warm-weather spell through October; but of course, all good things must end. That said, I love winter as much as any of the other seasons: I just don't like being cold.

Because of our climate, though, houses here are constructed primarily to keep cool in the summer. Which doesn't do us much good the other nine months of the year. Over time, we've grown accustomed to wearing wool hats indoors and rock-solid bricks of butter on February mornings. The temperature in our winter home may be cooler than what most Americans would find comfortable, but on the positive side, I haven't had a cold in two years---and that one I caught while traveling and visiting friends.

The folks over at re-nest.com have posted a list of 14 Ways to Keep Warm Without Turning the Heat On or Up, which I suggest everyone have a look at before the cold, crisp winds make their way to your parts. And if you haven't already, get yourself an "old-fashioned" hot water bottle. They are the best! And I'll let you in on one of my secrets: prepare the bottle about 15 to 20 minutes before bedtime. Wrap your pjs around the bottle and place between the bedsheets. There is nothing like slipping into toasty warm bedclothes on a cold winter night. :-)

*NaNoWriMo count: 7,461/50,000 words

peasant food: white bean soup

Peasant food maybe, but also incredibly tasty and satisfying. :-) I owe much to the Spanish woman I lived with years ago while attending university in Seville. She was a single mom with three kids and not a lot of money. In the late 1980s there was no such thing as convenience food in Spain. All the meals were prepared from scratch. Because Pastora was a busy woman, many of the dishes she prepared were quite simple but all were delicious.

It was Pastora who first introduced me to dried beans, now an important staple in our pantry. Not only are they incredibly nutritious, but dried beans are also superaffordable, too. I was craving a white bean soup, so last night before I went to bed, I measured out two cups of cannellini beans into a large glass bowl, covered with water, and went off to dreamland. In the morning, I drained and rinsed the beans and then boiled with water for just over an hour. Here's the complete ingredient list:

2 cups of dried white beans, soaked overnight, and cooked the next morning
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 T olive oil
1 large potato, diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
8 cups veggie broth
1/3 cup tomato paste
3 bay leaves
Spinach, kale, or your favorite leafy green

Saute the garlic in the olive oil for a couple minutes until lightly golden. Add the potato and carrots; saute a couple minutes more. Next add the beans, broth, tomato paste, and bay leaves. Simmer for 40 minutes. Add several handfuls of chopped fresh spinach, and then cook for a few more minutes, until the greens wilt. Serve with fresh ground pepper, possibly a little grated cheese, and a healthy chuck of ciabatta bread. And give thanks to my old friend Pastora. :-)

foto spot #15

Flamenco in the south of Spain.

Just a foto today as I still have 440+ words to reach my daily quota for NaNoWriMo: 4561/50,000 words.

more money in your holiday pocket

Recessions and layoffs can turn just about anyone into a Grinchy Scrooge, no doubt. But with careful planning and spending in the weeks leading up to the holidays, perhaps we can keep a few extra pennies in our pockets.

Real Simple (RS) magazine has offered 31 money-saving tips that seem worth following this month. And for those who are very sensibly not putting off their holiday shopping until the last minute, here is the RS list of 31 great gifts under $31. Follow along this month, and by December your gift buying will be sorted.

But before you make your first purchase, read through the RS holiday savings plan, which will help plan your budget, organize travel, and save on decorations and late-minute gifts. And as always, emphasis on the spirit of the season and spending time with loved ones can warm the hearts of all and create lifelong memories, too. :-)

NaNoWriMo count: 3,369/50,000 words

happy november!

November is writing month for me, as well as many other bloggers and writers. In addition to my other writing and editing work, the next thirty days will find 13,000+ people participating in National Blog Posting Month, or NaBloPoMo. Bloggers who sign up vow to post at least thirty times between now and December. Believe me, it sounds easier than the reality, especially as the holiday season kicks into gear in the latter half of the month!

The supercrazy writers not only sign up for NaBloPoMo but also the 50,000-word novel writing extravaganza known as NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. Close to 200,000 (!) word-mad people with stories to tell have started the writing marathon today. I've completed over 2500 words so far this afternoon and am feeling quite pleased with myself---just another 47, 452 words to go!

So there will be entries here every day of the week this month, not just the usual Monday through Friday postings, and I'll keep a tally of my NaNoWriMo word count here as well so you can track my progess---and reprimand me should I fall behind! :-)

Before I get back to my characters and their adventures, I have a superuseful and easy project for anyone who lives in a cold-weather climate and could benefit from some extra insulation around their windows. A friend just sent me this link with instructions for window quilts. What a fabulous idea! Several years ago we hung a heavy floor-length curtain inside our front door, which has helped tremendously with our energy efficiency, but until now I had not found a practical solution for our windows. Window quilts are the answer! I love when history repeats itself this way. :-D